Laser vinyl: Laser turntable - no pickup cartridge

Take a look at this:

http://www.laser-vinyl.com/Turntables/Laser/TheLaserTurntable.htm

- "An Analogue Turntable That Plays Your Records Using Five Lasers.
No contact, No Wear, No Arm, No Cartridge, but stunning musicality!"

Despite the lasers it's an all analog machine. There is no digitization of the signal.
Read how it works here:

http://www.laser-vinyl.com/Turntables/Laser/HowItWorks.htm

It all sounds good. Only problem is the price. About: 9000 $. 7700 GBP in Britain.

 

We know about these turntables as well.

 

mmmm....ok?

 

The ELP laser Turntable was reviewed in the current issue of The Absolute Sound.

 

M. Fremer reviewed it a couple of years ago too.

 

They were working on these t-tables MANY years ago, just about when CD was in the process of catching on. And once CD went big, the company that was pioneering this decided to call it quits. At the time, I think the projected price for one was about $3K, and so, it doesn't surprise me that they are asking what they are....but I am not up on where they are at nowadays.

 

The thing would be REALLY good on acetates, no?

I remember reading about this thing years ago.....and I seem to remember that the laser technology contained in these units is QUITE antiquated by todays standards.

I also wonder how scratches would sound.

 

even if you owned one of these, you'd STILL need a regular table to play your colored vinyl. and, unless your preamp had multiple phono inputs (whose does?), it'd be a nuisance pulling and resinerting plugs every time you changes tables.

 

hrmm... I thought he was the stereophile staff political commentator... he reviews products too?

 

If memory serve me, I think it was Smart Devices in Atlanta which was serving as a distribuitor for the U.S. They droped 'em because the Laser Turntable company was making service and parts and everything else difficult or impossible.

If you buy one of these things, you're proably facing the necessity of shipping it back to Japan, at great expense, every year or two for service...?

Another thing...doesn't it strike ya'all odd that they want a 60% advance fee to build ya one? Who else does business like that? It sounds funky/flunky to me!

...stille, theoretically, I would love this type of machine. In reality, I've lost hope of getting one atthis point, in this digital world...

 

I've heard this machine, and my more detailed comments are contained in the threads linked in Gary's post (#4) in this thread. Bottom line: the facial expression on Gary's avatar was similar to mine when I heard the ELP TT in operation.

 

Thing is, if you're worried about wear on your records, you can record them on a CD-R, reel, cassette...

And if fidelity is your concern, I can tell you, a good r-to-r and a good reel will get you right there for a few hundred bucks.

So for WAY less than half of what these things cost, you could have a real tt and a recording medium to do the same job, even if a bit less convenient.

Dale

 

Another big problem is the fact that the laser pickup is not reliable with records that are in not so good shape.

 

I gathered from reading the SmartDev site that it was being suggested - and I might've read it wrong - that the tables could feasibly be worked on here, and that when the patents expire in the next couple of years there might be other manufacturers. Speculation on their part, I'm guessing, but I would certainly buy one for $2500, and I'm wondering if that's down the road or if the three ELP models will be the only hurrah for the laser turntable.

 

I would suggest you listen to one and then make a decision. I would prefer the sound of a $1000 turntable compared to that $10k piece of . . .

 

Yeah, I'd love to, but I'm way out the target market for these units financially. I'm really perplexed by the reviews; some say that worn records sound worse, others say that they're brought back to life. I'd love to have access to one with a few of my discs I know what to expect on and see what it really does.

 

They ain't that expensive although the 'new' distributor certainly does try to get full price for them. I got a 'refurb' for $6,300, this was the LT2-XRC that supposedly is $20k. The thing is definitely NOT the bees knees. It does some things better than a turntable (I play all my 78s on it and surface defects that will destroy a stylus don't trouble it a bit,also if an album is clean the transient response is better than a standard turntable ever could be) but requires albums to be almost perfectly clean. The VPI 16.5 isn't up to the task, it takes a Loricraft or Monks machine to handle it.

Unless you use it all the time it's not necessary to ship it back every two years. I've had mine for four and all that's necessary is occasional use of the alignment record. I wouldn't recommend buying one without specific needs. Sadly, it will not play acetates. Cool concept but the execution is a letdown.

 

Based on the reviews I've read, this is the ELP's greatest weakness: the technology accentuates the sound and effect of scratches on some vinyl. Strangely, reports are that on many old, beat up looking records the scratchy sound all but disappears, but on newer, clean discs it sounds like "popcorn popping." Not a good sign.

Dale

 

Unless, perhaps, you want something to make beat up looking records sound not as beat up?